Pro-line wheels with removable hubs..!! Do Not Buy, save your money..!!

[BashingBrian]

This is going to be a sweary rant about the total load of that these wheels are..!!!

So, last Sunday I took out the Mojavefied complete with its brand new 2.8 Mashers, I bought them discounted from full retail so got the full set for £52 (good job too.!!)

Here they are after 20 minutes of run time, one battery pack...!!!

The only reason I checked them afterwards was because during that 20 minute bash session one of the wheels decided to remove itself from my truck and in the process lost me a wheel nut..!!
Look at the next 5 pictures they are all broken..!!!

As it is this one was quite hard to see it it's broken....

I decided to remove the hubs and clean them to see if they were all broken, and guess what they ARE all broken, but what's worse is that they are all broken in the exact same place..!!
I truly believe these hubs are engineered to break so you go and buy there totally over priced alloy replacement hubs..!!
And even worse still, there is no stock of the plastic ones in the UK till July...!!! (good job I have other wheels..!!)

I have had these other 2.8's you see below, the older ones without removable hubs, I believe they are the "Desperado" wheel for a couple of years with no issues at all..!!!
My first set were 2.8 badlands and I only swapped them out as they balloon like crazy, but the hubs are still to this day perfectly fine..!!

My second set were these ones you see below, if I remember correctly they are Interco's and they are even better because they have closed cell foams and hardly balloon at all, but Pro-line decided to discontinue them..!!!
I glued these up myself from loose wheels and tyres, they weren't bought as pre-mounts, also to my knowledge you CANNOT buy the closed cell foams on there own.. again the wheels are Desperado's..

If Pro-line think I am going to buy £70/$70 worth of alloy hubs they have another thing coming, these things are a total RIPOFF in my opinion..!!! I've no idea if this was a Horizon Hobby decision or all Pro-line's doing but it's just unacceptable to modify the wheel line-up and make them all totally and breakable then charge an insane amount just to keep using your wheels..!!!!

So this is the end of my RANT, my top tip and advise to anyone looking to buy 2.8 wheels/tyres is look elsewhere DO NOT spend your hard earned cash on this ..!!

On a side note, these wheels below are from a Corally Sketer, they are better than any 2.8 Pro-line's, perform about 100 times better, don't balloon and are way cheaper too..!!!

 

[DLK83]

Yup, that's how they get you to buy their ridiculously over-priced aluminum hubs to go with their ridiculously over-priced wheels and tires... went thru all that myself, sold it all, and vowed to never give them another penny of my money when it comes to tires/wheels

 

[KnowAir]

This is going to be a sweary rant about the total load of that these wheels are..!!!

So, last Sunday I took out the Mojavefied complete with its brand new 2.8 Mashers, I bought them discounted from full retail so got the full set for £52 (good job too.!!)

Here they are after 20 minutes of run time, one battery pack...!!!

View attachment 306923

The only reason I checked them afterwards was because during that 20 minute bash session one of the wheels decided to remove itself from my truck and in the process lost me a wheel nut..!!
Look at the next 5 pictures they are all broken..!!!

View attachment 306933View attachment 306934View attachment 306935

As it is this one was quite hard to see it it's broken....

View attachment 306936View attachment 306937

I decided to remove the hubs and clean them to see if they were all broken, and guess what they ARE all broken, but what's worse is that they are all broken in the exact same place..!!
I truly believe these hubs are engineered to break so you go and buy there totally over priced alloy replacement hubs..!!
And even worse still, there is no stock of the plastic ones in the UK till July...!!! (good job I have other wheels..!!)

View attachment 306931View attachment 306932

I have had these other 2.8's you see below, the older ones without removable hubs, I believe they are the "Desperado" wheel for a couple of years with no issues at all..!!!
My first set were 2.8 badlands and I only swapped them out as they balloon like crazy, but the hubs are still to this day perfectly fine..!!

View attachment 306939

My second set were these ones you see below, if I remember correctly they are Interco's and they are even better because they have closed cell foams and hardly balloon at all, but Pro-line decided to discontinue them..!!!
I glued these up myself from loose wheels and tyres, they weren't bought as pre-mounts, also to my knowledge you CANNOT buy the closed cell foams on there own.. again the wheels are Desperado's..

View attachment 306940

If Pro-line think I am going to buy £70/$70 worth of alloy hubs they have another thing coming, these things are a total RIPOFF in my opinion..!!! I've no idea if this was a Horizon Hobby decision or all Pro-line's doing but it's just unacceptable to modify the wheel line-up and make them all totally and breakable then charge an insane amount just to keep using your wheels..!!!!

So this is the end of my RANT, my top tip and advise to anyone looking to buy 2.8 wheels/tyres is look elsewhere DO NOT spend your hard earned cash on this ..!!

On a side note, these wheels below are from a Corally Sketer, they are better than any 2.8 Pro-line's, perform about 100 times better, don't balloon and are way cheaper too..!!!

View attachment 306942

Sorry to hear this.. not the first time either..
I am a cheapskate, so I've only read of this since I never ponied up for a set. The aluminum adapters surely wouldn't have prevented the cracked wheels either.. dial them up straight away and at least try to get some form of warranty maybe? Grr...
I was pumped for the Mirage TT wheels/tires to try on my Typhon XL..Proline keeps pushing the delivery date back.. so I spent my money elsewhere. Devine intervention perhaps

 

[Dan B.]

Good tip on the Corally Sketer shoes, thank you.

 

[LipoShirly]

I picked up a 4some of the PLR 3.8 sand tires a few months ago, brand new from Horizon. As I assembled the hubs, 3 of the 4 cracked (with multiple cracks per hub) at the same points around where the screws goes in ( I'd post the pics but have already deleted them after they were warrantied by HH) You could tell when turning the screws in that something had to give. Anyway, it was interesting in that they failed at the same point on each hub.... 2 of the zig-zag fractures looked so identical you could hardly tell them apart . I'm not so sure it was bad engineering as much as it looked like they may have had a bad run of plastic, way to brittle, I'm wondering if that's what your running into as well. For what its worth, the replacements were a much softer plastic, they assembled much easier.

 

[SrC]

Yeah I posted in regards a few years ago. Had the same issue. Badlands 3.8's on Raid wheels.
I got caught out there with the PL Adapter Raid wheel design. They suck. Cracking. And PL wants you to buy their Expensive "Alloy Adapters" to suck you into their new wheel design. Like $95.00. for 4 alloy adapters. Or you will keep eating the Plastic adapters. PL has you over a barrel.

The plastic ones don't cut it. It only benefits PL with reducing inventory while offering crossover wheels for many more Hex sizes and Offsets.
It's why I only Buy PL Race disk wheels if anything. I see adapters have become a thing now however, with other brands.
MethodRC wheels does that now. Maybe their hex hub adapters are stronger? IDK.

https://www.prolineracing.com/produ...o-offset-aluminum-hex-adapters/PRO635600.html

 

[stevenwm]

It seems Prolines plastic hex’s can’t handle jumping or 6s power

But they are solid w aluminum hex’s and extra glue

I have a few sets aluminum hex’s if anyone’s interested

 

[john 8s]

Thanks for write up, just saved me some .

 

[Garcbomber]

Buy discounted, get discounted results! I ran my dumonts and badland lps in sub-zero weather all winter, no problems...

 

[SrC]

Good tip on the Corally Sketer shoes, thank you.

I also heard good things about them.
These below?

https://jennysrc.com/collections/co...res-black-rims-c-00191?variant=40357135024182

Yup, that's how they get you to buy their ridiculously over-priced aluminum hubs to go with their ridiculously over-priced wheels and tires... went thru all that myself, sold it all, and vowed to never give them another penny of my money when it comes to tires/wheels

Don't feel alone there. I got beat myself.
I took a quick second glance at the price of the Alloy adapters after my plastic one broke., and realized it was just a PL money grab. There is no way those Alloy hex adapters actually cost almost $50. to mfr. them, for just 2 of them? Give me a break.
PL knew the plastic adapters would fail all along. That is why the upgrade Alloy adapters were available along with the release of the Raid wheels. Just a rip IMHO.
I would just replace with the plastic one's till the tires are done. And don't look back to PL again.

 

[Gordo]

That blows. I don't know what size they are but I'm wondering if you took a plumbing crimp ring for pex tubing and put over the broken hub. Glue the crack and a crimp ring might do the trick.
crimp ring

 

[#ARRMArcfanboy4life]

I think PL needs to make better plastic quality on the hubs. I really like the design, but the quality is terrible.

 

[Surchaufeur]

I never owned them but ik tons of people reported this issue they released a metal version for the hex part. Expensive junk is pretty much proline theme. They cant even make a body free of defect.... i want to paint a vet body but i fear receiving a defective one and having to go trough warranty again

 

[SrC]

Poor cheap plastics will ruin an otherwise good design when it comes to execution. They will never upgrade the plastics. Their answer is the $98.00 Alloy Adapters. Or just keep buying replacement Plastic ones.
What PL will tell you all day long.
While they laugh all the way to the bank.

 

[Surchaufeur]

Poor cheap plastics will ruin an otherwise good design when it comes to execution. They will never upgrade the plastics. Their answer is the $98.00 Alloy Adapters. Or just keep buying replacement Plastic ones.
What PL will tell you all day long.
While they laugh all the way to the bank.

Wait..Wait at minute THEY ARE 98$????

 

[SrC]

I never owned them but ik tons of people reported this issue. I conclude they are poop. I think someone made an aluminum option

Yes PL sells Alloys, yes. $98. for 4 of them. That is the problem. WAY overpriced.
I don't believe there is any other brand alloy Hub adapter that fits PL's proprietary design.

 

[Surchaufeur]

No freaking way

 

[Bustedaw11]

That blows. I don't know what size they are but I'm wondering if you took a plumbing crimp ring for pex tubing and put over the broken hub. Glue the crack and a crimp ring might do the trick.
crimp ring

I've done similar in the past. Worked out.. what have you got to lose?

 

[Surchaufeur]

Yes PL sells Alloys, yes. $98. for 4 of them. That is the problem. WAY overpriced.
I don't believe there is any other brand alloy Hub adapter that fits PL's proprietary design.

Ffs a 3d printer can make better one for 1$ a pop. They only have to make the plastic thicker around the hexes

 

[SrC]

Wait..Wait at minute THEY ARE 98$????

Well 93.98 to be fair... 2 pairs of them. There is NO way Alloy ones cost that much to mfr. It is a Money grab I tell you. A PL conspiracy.
By contrast, alloy Beadlock Crawler Wheel adapters cost way less.
https://www.prolineracing.com/produ...o-offset-aluminum-hex-adapters/PRO635600.html
Crazy..right??? Like they are made of Gold or something.

Ffs a 3d printer can make better one for 1$ a pop. They only have to make the plastic thicker around the hexes

One idea for sure......